Improvement in water-wheels



`regulated or prevented.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.,

WILLIAM H. HOLGOMB AND DANIEL V. HOLGOMB, OF N UNDA, ILLINOIS.

IMPRVEMENT IN WATER-WHEELS.

Specilication forming part of Letters Patent No. 158,277, dated December29, 1874; application filed July 27, 1874.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, WILLIAM H. Hor.- ooMB and DANIEL V. HoLooMB, ofthetown of Nunda, of McHenry county, State of Illinois, have invented aWater-Wheel, of which the following is a specification:

This invention has relation to means for driving machinery by the forceof water acting on helical iianges, which are applied on two parallelshafts, and arranged in the same case. The nature of our inventionconsists,

w mainly, in the employment, in a single case or curb, of two shafts,which are geared together so that they will rotate in oppositedirections, and which are surrounded by helical flanges of equalradiuses, stepped in such manner that they will mesh together in closecontact, and afford surfaces against which the ascending currents ofwater will act to turn the said shaftsdn opposite directions, as will beunderstood from the following description.

In the annexed drawings, F designates the case or curb of` ourwater-power, which is constructed with flanges a a 011 its ends, to thelower one, a', of which a cylinder, G, is bolted, having a closed bottomand perforated sides. Surrounding the cylinder G is a ring orband, H,having perforations through it corresponding to the Vperforationsthrough the cylinder Gr. A rack, b, is secured to the band H,Awith whicha pinion, o, on a vertical shaft-cl, engages. The shaft d extends abovethe top of the case F, and has a hand-wheel, e, on its upper end, byturning which the admission of water into the lower end of the case Fcan be E E designate two bridges, in which are blocks for the journalsof two vertical shafts, B B, which are geared together by means oftwin-wheels A A, on

their upper ends. On the shafts B B cylin ders G G are keyed, which areequal in their length to the length of the case F. Around thesecylinders are helical ianges G D, leaving helical grooves or Water-waysextending throughout the length of the cylinders. The ange of onecylinder winds around it in an opposite direction to the correspondingiiange of the other cylinder, as shown in Figs. l and 3, and bothiianges have the same radiuses.

The upper and lower sides of each flange are stepped regularly, for twopurposes: First, that surfaces n are formed, against which the force ofthe ascending current of water will act; and, second, that the peripheryof one ange shall run in close contact with the periphery of thecylinder ofthe opposite flange. The surfaces u are concave, as shown inFig. 3, and the height of these surfaces are all equal on both of thecylinders; consequently, one ange will run closely in the groove formedby the other flange, and the two anges will thus interlock with oneanother, and at the same time allow the ascending currents of water torotate the shafts B B in opposite directions. After the water has spentits force on the anges C D it flows freely from the top of the case F.

Having described our invention, we claim- Stopped helical flanges C andD, formed on cylinders G-@ G, which are applied on shafts B B,gearedrtogether, the said anges interlocking with each other, andarranged in a case or curb, F, substantially as described.

WILLIAM II. HOLOOMB. DANIEL V. HOLCOMB. Witnesses L. BENTHUsEN, B.TYRRELL.

